1953

1953 was the 82nd year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• Birmingham's Western High School was renamed Western Olin High School.
• Fountain Heights Methodist Church purchased the former Weather Forecast Office Birmingham on 13th Street North.
• A. H. Parker High School was first accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges.
• November 13: A fire seriously damaged Edgewood Elementary School.

Business

• Michael Matsos opened a second location of La Paree restaurant in the Holiday Inn on Bessemer Super Highway.
• Storer Broadcasting of Toledo, Ohio purchased WBRC-TV for $2.3 million and switched it from Channel 4 to Channel 6.
• The Birmingham News Company purchased WAFM-TV, WAPI-AM and WAPI-FM and moved their studios to Red Mountain.
• Pasquale and Vincent Gramaglia founded Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Government

• April: Cooper Green resigned from the Birmingham City Commission to become a vice president of the Alabama Power Company.
• The [Birmingham Department of Parks and Recreation]] purchased the Arlington home in West End for $53,000, raised through private donations.
• May 5: 1953 Birmingham municipal election
• Jimmy Morgan succeeded Cooper Green as President of the Birmingham City Commission.
• October 6: The city of Midfield was incorporated.

Sports

• The 1953 Birmingham Barons began a three-season association with the New York Yankees.
• May 18: Harold Grote tied a Birmingham Barons record with two home runs in one inning.
• August 28: The Southside Ball Association's team won the Little League World Series.
• Sam Hairston was named Most Valuable Player of the Western League.

Individuals

• Fant Thornley succeeded Emily Danton as director of the Birmingham Public Library.
• Eloise Hanna retired from WBRC-TV.
• A. C. Keily served as president of the Professional Photographers of Mississippi-Alabama.
• W. A. Parker retired as Superintendent of Tarrant City Schools.
• Henry Stanford became president of the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville.
• James Permutt succeeded Fred Nichols as president of Temple Beth-El.
• U.S. Attorney Tom King was made Chief Administrative Assistant to U. S. Representative George Huddleston Jr.

Births

• March 1: Luther Strange, former Attorney General of Alabama and U.S. Senator
• May 9: Ron Jackson, professional baseball player
• June 12: Charlie Moore, professional baseball player
• December: Eli Gold, sports announcer
• Emory Anthony, attorney
• Cathy Sloss Jones, real estate developer
• Myron Massey, Fairfield Police Department

Marriages

• Actor Mary Anderson married cimematographer Leon Shamroy.
• Theodore Peoples married Annie Louise Berry.
• Freddie Rogers married Pearlie McCarthy.

Awards

• Birmingham Woman of the Year: Eleanor Bridges
• University of Alabama Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award: George Murray

Graduations

• Coach Bobby Bowden graduated from Howard College.
• Composer Ezra Sims earned a diploma in Chinese from the U.S. Army Language School.
• Pastor Fred Shuttlesworth completed a bachelor's degree in English from the Alabama State Teachers College in Montgomery.

Deaths

• June 27: Mary Anderson, real-estate developer, rancher, viticulturist and inventor

See also: List of homicides in 1953

Works

Buildings

• March 11: Howard College broke ground for its new Shades Valley campus.
• The Alabama Theatre's projection system and screen were upgraded for CinemaScope.
• The connector between U.S. Highway 31 and the "Florida Short Route" in Rosedale was begun.
• Widening of U.S. Highway 31 between Shades Mountain and the Cahaba River was begun.
• A playing field was constructed on the east side of Phillips High School.
• A parsonage for North Birmingham Church of God on 32nd Street North.

Context

1950s

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